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Stocks were barely changed and closed mixed on Monday as the benchmark stock indexes swung between slight gains and losses throughout the day following Friday's jobs-report-fueled rally.

The listless trading came despite an upgrade on the outlook for U.S. government debt by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services and a 5% jump in Japan's Nikkei 225 index..

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 9.53 points, or 0.1%, to 15,238.59 and the Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 0.57 point to 1,642.81. The Nasdaq composite index gained 4.55, or 0.1%, to 3,473.77.

More stocks fell than rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Trading volume was very thin at 2.8 billion shares.

The S&P Ratings Service had downgraded the U.S. government's long-term credit rating in 2011 because of a contentious fight in Congress over raising government spending limits. The downgrade, an embarrassment to the U.S., also sent the stock market into a tailspin. The Dow Jones industrial average plunged 634 points, or more than 5%t, on the first trading day after the downgrade. The market suffered through big triple-digit swings for the rest of the fall.

On Monday, S&P upgraded its outlook on the U.S. debt rating to "Stable" from "Negative." It said that the U.S. economy has started to improve. The agency cited the budget deal that Congress brokered late last year, which is meant to raise tax revenue and cut government spending.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.22% from 2.18% late Friday.

Traders in Japan were encouraged by Friday's U.S. Labor Department measure of employment, which showed the U.S. economy added 175,000 jobs in May, better than the expected 165,000 increase. Tokyo's Nikkei 225, the regional heavyweight, advanced 4.94% to 13,514.20.

"The relief from U.S. jobs was palpable," said Mizuho Corporate Bank in a report. "It [the jobs report] said gains were "gentle enough to avert concerns" the Fed might be prompted to withdraw its "quantitative easing."

On Friday, the Dow rose 1.4% to 15,248.12 for its second-biggest gain this year, surpassed only by its 2.4% rise Jan. 2. The S&P 500 surged 1.3% to 1,643.38. The Nasdaq composite index gained 1.3% to close at 3,469.21.

Benchmark oil for July delivery fell 29 cents to $95.74 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract for benchmark crude rose $1.27 to close at $96.03 a barrel on the Nymex on Friday.